Federal Budget

An appropriations request submitted to a Congressional committee would block the use of defense dollars to shutter Fort Bragg's 440th Airlift Wing.

The request, submitted by North Carolina U.S. Reps. Renee Ellmers, David Price, Richard Hudson and Mike McIntyre, would "prohibit funding for the inactivation, relocation or any other measure that would disrupt the mission, personnel or aircraft of the 440th Airlift Wing," according to Hudson's office.

It's “a boondoggle of epic proportions,” an exasperated Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson at a recent congressional hearing, “if you're in the middle of a huge mess, you stop digging.”

Four congressmen from North Carolina have sent a letter to the Department of Defense raising concerns over the possible shuttering of a Fort Bragg unit.

Reps. Renee Ellmers, Richard Hudson, David Price and Mike McIntyre say they oppose the deactivation of the 440th Airlift Wing, which owns all of the Air Force planes at Fort Bragg's Pope Field. They sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Thursday, January 30, 2014 — President Barack Obama vowed to press forward despite a deeply divided Congress, calling for equal pay for women and a higher minimum wage during Tuesday night’s annual State of the Union address.

Although President Obama’s second term agenda has been marred with low approval ratings and a health care law that has sputtered to get off the ground, his talk of equal pay for women and a higher minimum wage drew thundering applause and standing ovations, albeit mostly among bipartisan lines.